Cailin Heffernan, Tim Errickson, & Sue Abbott of Boomerang Theatre Company’s “The Real Thing”

Posted on March 21, 2012 by robby

Has Go See a Show! ever been outside of Manhattan? I can’t remember even seeing a show in my home borough of Brooklyn that I’ve covered for the podcast…kind of crazy that it’s taken 24 episodes to get out of Mannahatta…

…but here we are, at Long Island City’s The Secret Theatre, for Boomerang Theatre Company’s production of The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. Director Cailin Heffernan, Boomerang Artistic Director Tim Errickson, and Managing Director Sue Abbott joined me for a podcast interview after I saw a performance of the show last week, to talk about running a lesser-produced Stoppard in rep with a Shakespeare comedy and a contemporary comedy, making one set work between three different shows, rock & roll in Stoppard’s work…and more.

Remember: always sit in the front row.

download episode

Boomerang Theatre Company presents
The Real Thing
by Tom Stoppard
The Secret Theatre
4402 23rd Street
Long Island City, NY 11101
Saturday March 3rd @ 8pm
Sunday March 4th @ 3pm
Monday March 12th @ 8pm
Wednesday March 14th @ 8pm
Saturday March 17th @ 8pm
Sunday March 18th @ 3pm
Thursday March 22nd @ 8pm
Friday March 23rd @ 8pm
Saturday March 24th @ 3pm

Matilda Szydagis, director of “Look for the Woman”

Posted on March 10, 2012 by robby

The podcast is starting to reflect back on itself again — in this interview, Go See a Show! gets to a play that we discussed with the playwright, Christie Perfetti, when it was still in development, in the second episode of the podcast. And in that podcast, Christie gives a shout-out to the director interviewed in this episode, who just so happened to be the lead in the play covered in ep. 2.

So, welcome to the podcast to actress & director Matilda Szydagis!

Matilda has directed Ms. Perfetti’s latest play, Look for the Woman, which is currently being presented by Write Act Rep at the Richmond Shepard Theater. After their second performance earlier this week, Matilda talked with GSAS! about working with the playwright, directing for a 160 degree audience, and what it’s like to work on a show where the characters look a lot like the people you grew up seeing in your hometown…

download podcast

Look for the Woman
by Christie Perfetti
directed by Matilda Szydagis
Richmond Shepard Theater (309 E. 26th Street at 2nd Ave.)
Sunday March 11th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
Monday March 12th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Tuesday March 13th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Thursday March 22nd, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Friday March 23rd, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Saturday March 24th, 2012 @ 8:00 PM
Sunday March 25th, 2012 @ 3:00 PM
Tickets

Casey Cleverly, director of “Twelfth Night: Wall Street”

Posted on March 7, 2012 by robby

Go See a Show! returns to Shakespeare (as it seems to do…) with Co-Op Theatre East‘s production of Twelfth Night: Wall Street, directed by COTE Literary Director Casey Cleverly.

COTE is in residence at Looking Glass Theatre, where we’ve built a huge wall onstage (courtesy of our incredible set designer Michael Simmons) as the setting for Viola, posing as Cesario, to attempt to woo the business of Olivia’s Fashion House on behalf of the firm Orsino & Partners, while 99%’ers Sir Tobey, Sir Andrew, Fabian, and Maria drink themselves into a stupor and mess with everyone’s favorite cross-garterer, Malvolio.

…before you say, “what?,” take a listen to the podcast.

download episode
…by the way, that’s Tyrus Holden (Sir Andrew) and Sam Williams (Feste) opening the podcast…

Twelfth Night: Wall Street
by William Shakespeare
directed by Casey Cleverly
Co-Op Theatre East & Looking Glass Theatre
422 W. 57th Street
Mannahatta
Wednesday–Saturday, March 7-10, 7:30PM
Tickets available at OvationTix

photos by Michael Simmons; 1) Dana Hunter as Viola, Amanda Renee Baker as Orsino, Sam Williams as Feste; 2) Haleigh Ciel as Olivia, Dana Hunter; 3) Tyrus Holden as Sir Andrew, Michael Rehse as Sir Tobey, and Kerrie Bond as Fabian; 4) Haleigh Ciel

Tomi Tsunoda, director of “Erosion: A Fable”

Posted on February 23, 2012 by robby

For Go See a Show!‘s first episode featuring a show at the marvelous La MaMa (a place dear to my heart), we’ve got an interview with director Tomi Tsunoda, director of Loom Ensemble’s Erosion: A Fable, which is being presented in The Club as part of La MaMa’s 50th Anniversary Season.

Listen in as Tomi tells us about developing the piece with the ensemble, equates love with dirt from a homeless woman on the street, and describes how to play pvc pipe with flip-flops.

Sounds like a cool show, no?

download episode

Loom Ensemble’s
Erosion: A Fable
directed by Tomi Tsunoda
thru February 26th, 2012
Friday at 10pm
Saturday at 5:30pm and 10pm
Sunday at 5:30pm
Tickets: $15, $10 for students/seniors
available from La MaMa online, in person at the box office, or by calling 212-475-7710

photos by Nimi Kadar

Catherine Mueller of “Mary Poppins: A Show About Mary Poppins”

Posted on February 21, 2012 by robby

Last weekend, I interviewed my friend Catherine Mueller over afternoon tea (how adroit) as we discussed her new show Mary Poppins: A Show About Mary Poppins (yes, that’s the full title).

Listen in as Cat explains how her work in clowning influenced the creation of her one-woman show (featuring two people), and I learn that I’ve been pronouncing my friend’s name incorrectly for the past year.

download episode

Mary Poppins: A Show About Mary Poppins
Performed by Catherine Mueller & Ben Vigus

Created by Catherine Mueller, in collaboration with Ben Vigus
with special assistance from Mikhaela Mahony & Alex Correia

Thursday, February 23, 2012
7:30 PM
Dixon Place
131A Chrystie Street
approx. 70 minutes

Tickets $10 students, $12 advance/$15 at the door
Available at OvationTix

For more information on this show, head over to the show’s website: ashowaboutmarypoppins.tumblr.com/

Martin Dockery & Vanessa Quesnelle of “Oh, That Wily Snake!”

Posted on February 8, 2012 by robby

On this episode of Go See a Show!, we’ve got our first returning guest: actor & playwright Martin Dockery, who is joined onstage by actress Vanessa Quesnelle for his show Oh, That Wily Snake! (it’s nice to see another title with an “!” in it).

Oh, That Wily Snake! is, on its face, an often surreal one-act play about a man trying to convince a woman to take a trip with him on his flying bed to Aruba (and, to get her to eat brussel sprouts). But there’s a lot more going on, too — listen in as Martin and Vanessa discuss this “allegory of an allegory.”

And sorry for the clanging.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Oh, That Wily Snake!
thru February 10th
Under St. Mark’s (St. Mark’s & 1st Ave.)
Thurs, Fri, and Sat. 8pm
$18/$15 Student and Senior

Steven Carl McCasland and Mallory Berlin, of “A Doll’s Life”

Posted on February 3, 2012 by robby

We all know the story of Nora & Torvald from Ibsen’s classic A Doll’s House (wasn’t it the first thing every directing student worked on in class?). But have you ever wondered what happened to Nora after she shut the door?

Betty Comden & Adolph Green, who wrote the book & lyrics to the musical (yes — musical) A Doll’s Life, wondered just that — and the result was one of the better-known Broadway flops of the 20th Century, running for only 5 performances.

Steven Carl McCasland, Artistic Director of The Beautiful Soup Theatre Collective, has brought the musical back to NYC with a production at The New Ohio Theatre, running it in rep with the original Ibsen. In this episode of Go See a Show!, I interview McCasland along with Mallory Berlin, who portrays Nora in A Doll’s Life.

Producer’s Note: Very sorry for the lateness of this episode! Had some uploading difficulty; hope everyone can catch one of the remaining two performances!

download episode

The Beautiful Soup Theater Collective presents
Nora in Rep
thru February 5, 2012
The New Ohio Theatre
154 Christopher Street, New York, NY
Wednesday January 25th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Thursday 26th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Friday 27th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Saturday 28th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Saturday 28th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Sunday 29th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Sunday 29th – 7:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Wednesday, February 1st – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
~~Thursday, 2nd – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE~~
~~Friday, 3rd – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S LIFE~~
Saturday, 4th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE
Saturday, 4th – 7:30pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Sunday, 5th – 2:00pm – A DOLL’S HOUSE
Sunday, 5th – 7:00pm – A DOLL’S LIFE

Alex Mallory & Jeffrey Karafin, Artistic Directors of Poetic Theater Productions and the festival “Poetic License”

Posted on January 5, 2012 by robby

This weekend, The Wild Project is home to a quick but mighty little festival from Poetic Theater Productions — Poetic License.

On a freezing night after tech earlier this week, Go See a Show! interviewed the company’s Artistic Directors, Alex Mallory and Jeremy Karafin, about creative communities, working with talented youth, and just what “poetic theater” means. And we get interrupted by an old friend of mine, showcasing the wonderfully random connections we make in this little off-off-Broadway world of ours.

download episode

…on a side note, this is Episode 17 of Go See a Show! That’s not a particularly important milestone or anything…but wow. 17? We’re on a roll here, folks, and the podcast ain’t giving up anytime soon.

Spread the word — introduce your friends to the podcast!

“Into the Woods,” a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center

Posted on January 3, 2012 by robby

This episode of Go See a Show! may not be about a technically “off-off-Broadway” show, but the impulse behind this production is very much in the vein of my favorite kinds of OOB shows — a bunch of people getting together, on their own terms, for the sake of making something beautiful.

And it’s for a good cause, which makes this all the more awesome.

Director Kevin Horne and actor Joshua David Bishop (“Jack”) are two of the folks behind a special charity performance of Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Along with their fellow employees at catering company Great Performances, Kevin and Joshua are putting on this classic musical for two performances as a fundraiser for The Sylvia Center, a not-for-profit that teaches young people about food and nutrition from the farm to the kitchen. Good stuff.

Take a listen to the interview, then go help these cats out with a buck or twenty at their Kickstarter page; and follow their progress on Facebook.

download episode

Martin Dockery, and his new show “The Holy Land Experience”

Posted on December 19, 2011 by robby

Playwright & performer Martin Dockery is one of those guys who seems, to me, to have the most interesting life — his stories are always full of wild adventures and profoundly meaningful interactions with fascinating people, all true, all from his life.

I interviewed Dockery after a performance of his new show The Holy Land Experience at The Kraine Theater, and he answers the question of “just why is your life so awesome and mine so mundane?” beautifully. That, and more, in this episode of Go See a Show!

download episode

There’s sadly just one more chance to see this run of The Holy Land Experience — Monday, December 19, 8PM at The Kraine. Check it out if you can; watch one of his appearances at The Moth to get a sense for the kind of storytelling you’re in for, like this one below: